Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [107]-115).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-194). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 41-43).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-126).

Thesis (M. S.)--Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010. / Committee Chair: Choi, Seung-Kyum; Committee Member: Muhanna, Rafi; Committee Member: Rosen, David. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rhode Island, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-155).

Thesis (M.S.) in Mechanical Engineering--University of Maine, 2005. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 148-154).

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The present work is concerned with the advancement of the knowledge of structural optimization in engineering design while focusing on efficient and easy to use ways of setting-up the required automated processes as well as the problems arising from it. Three industry examples are considered. In the first example a software tool that serves as a hands-on decision guidance for many occurring design situations for structured wall PE pipes is developed. In order to avoid licensing fees only public domain software or in-house code are used. It offers the efficient and automated simulation of the ringstiffness test as well as the most common pipe installation scenarios. In addition, an optimization feature is implemented for the design of optimum pipe profiles with regards to the ringstiffness test. In the second example a framework for the optimum design of carbon fibre mountain bike frames is developed. An extensively parameterized and automated simulation model is created that allows for varying tube shapes, paths and laminate ply thicknesses as well as joint locations. For improved efficiency a decomposition approach has been employed that decomposes the original optimization problem into a size optimization sub problem and a shape optimization top level problem. The former is solved by the built-in optimization tool in OptiStruct and the latter by means of surrogate based optimization where each experiment in the DoE is a full size optimization. The third example is concerned with the optimum design of a blade for a novel vertical axis wind turbine. A design approach similar to those with horizontal axes is chosen. The altered design requirements are accounted for by creating a parameterized simulation model and performing size optimization runs for 32 models with different material settings and shear web locations where the model creation process has been automated.

This PhD thesis addresses the development of novel computational methods for designing modular structures i.e. structures composed of the assembly of identical components called modules. Current methodologies tackle this challenge by implementing topology optimization of the module but their efficiency is limited by the performance deterioration when numerous modules are used in the structure. In this work, the design of lightweight modular structures is addressed by simultaneously optimizing the topology of the modules and their respective position in the structure. This contribution also includes a novel strategy that reconciles lightness, structural performance, and constructability (i.e. fabrication and erection phases) by incorporating module rotations as additional design variables. To ensure the practical applicability of the proposed approach, stability is included to provide meaningful solutions that are globally stable and resist local buckling. For this purpose, global stability constraints using linear prebuckling are adopted, while local stability is formulated based on Euler buckling and properties of standard profiles obtained from commercial catalogues. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur et technologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished